1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a slide-aid device for electronic apparatus, and more particularly to a slide-aid device including a linkage mechanism and an elastic unit respectively assembled with a slide module and an apparatus body of the electronic apparatus. By means of the slide-aid device, a user can more easily operate the slide module to move through a long travel.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known that various freely reciprocally movable or slidable screen/slide cover systems have been developed and applied to different electronic devices such as mobile phones, laptops, PDA, digital imagers and electronic books. The slide cover can be moved and opened/closed.
The above screen/slide cover module or slide cover assembly generally includes a movable frame, a linking board, multiple elastic members, linking wires and guide rails with specific configurations. These components cooperate with each other to help in opening/closing the slide cover. When such slide cover module is applied to a relatively heavyweight electronic product necessitating longer movement distance, (for example, a laptop necessitating over 120 mm slide travel), at the initial stage, an operator needs to exert a greater force to push the slide cover module for a longer time.
This is because the operator must at least push the slide cover module through one half of the travel (about 60 mm) under the elastic restoring resistance of the elastic members. Thereafter, at the later half stage of the travel, the elastic members will release energy to save the strength of the operator. This makes it difficult for a user to operate the slide cover, especially for a female, a child or an oldster.
It is therefore tried by the applicant to provide a slide-aid device for electronic apparatus to overcome the above shortcoming existing in the conventional screen/slide cover module. By means of the slide-aid device, in case of a relatively heavyweight electronic product necessitating longer movement distance, an operator only needs to push the slide cover module by a shorter distance to make the slide cover module start to automatically move to the end of the travel. In comparison with the conventional slide cover module, at the initial stage of the travel, the strength of an operator for pushing the slide cover module can be saved.